This week’s $20 GOTY and lost classics are gonna take you waaaaaay back. First, lets take a trip back to the PS2 launch. Although there weren’t many titles worth grabbing at the time, (except Timesplitters and Tekken Tag Tournament) Capcom gave us fighting game fans something to tide us over.

You either love the EX series or you hate it. Those who like it, (me for instance) like the cool music, intresting new characters (although some are somewhat dull), and the fact that our favorite 2-d series translated so well to 3-d. Those who hate it harp on it’s static backgrounds, dull characters, and consider it blasphemy to take a 2-d stalwart and take it into 3-d. Capcom’s 3-d fighters have been more of a test run than anything, and the fact that they still continue to produce 2-d games speaks volumes of thier apprehension to make the jump to 3-d. Be that as it may, beside Rival Schools and Tech Romancer, this is probably thier best 3-d effort.

Although the only new character introduced here is Ace (a robot who you can set special attacks for in an all new mission mode), many of your favorites from the EX series have arrived. A new Tag Team mode, similar to the Marvel vs Capcom games is also included. You can’t change in and out as rapidly here as you did in MVC though, so it adds a layer of strategy and timing. A new single player mode tries to do things differently by having you fight more than one opponent at once, and giving you the option to recruit defeated opponents to your team. Finally, beating the aforementioned single player mode treats you to the wildest credit sequence ever; a free-for all brawl where the goal is to take out as many enemies as you can.

As I mentioned before, not everyone will like SFEX3, particularly series purists. I kinda miss the remixed barrel breaking game from the original EX. For those who don’t mind a little change now and then however, you can’t go wrong with this PS2 blast from the past.

Ever since 2000, Activision has made good use of the licencing rights to Spiderman, putting out some of the best games based on the webslinger. The video game adaptation to the second movie is no different. Taking a page out of Grand Theft Auto, Spiderman 2 features an open world design where players can websling thier way around New York city and stop crimes. (Although at times some of them can get pretty repetitive and lame) Players can earn hero points, which are spent on upgrades and new attacks. In typical gaming fashion, the game follows the plot of the movie while adding additional material from the comics. Along with Doctor Octopus, you’ll also run into Mysterio (the final battle with him ranks as one of the funniest moments in video games) Shocker, Rhino, and the Black Cat throughout the course of the game. Only bad spot is the lack of real unlockables, considering how much extra bonus stuff Activision has packed in the past. Instead you earn badges for doing a certain amount of tasks, which do nothing, except maybe as act as a precursor to Xbox Live 360 acheivements. Even so, Spiderfans owe it to them selves to check out this game.

Tecmo’s Deception series is one of those games that refuses to be piegonholed into a single category. Is it an action game? Is it an RPG? Is it a puzzle game? It is varied enough to compete in any genre. This is the third installment of the series. Instead of killing enemies with swords and magic, you use specalized traps that you set up before entering the level. You can even create new ones between levels by combining certain objects found during the game. This new game tells the story of a girl abducted alongside her adopted family on her birthday, and forced to use her newfound powers to survive and gain revenge on the king and queen responsible for her predictament. It’s funny as hell to watch a body fly through the air after stepping on a catapult. There is a sequel of sorts out called “Trapt” on PS2. Although this is a pipe dream, a next-gen installment of the serie making use of Havok physics and realistic gore effects would be awesome. Until then, pic this up and satisfy that inner sadist in you.

Just a note, I forgot when I was transforming him in the video, but Megatrons shins shift upward as well.

Enjoy!

Regular readers might’ve noticed that the site went offline without notice yesterday afternoon, and then looked kinda messed up until a few minutes ago.

This was completely my fault, and I promise to read the instructions on how to upgrade wordpress before I erase the entire site again.

As always, I encourage all to stop by the Powet Forum and if you notice anything weird about the site not working, report it in my I broke the site thread.

Now you may cower at the sight of this fully operational powet station.

This week, I’m gonna do a little something different.  Remember all those games like Robotron, Space Invaders, and Galaga where you didn’t play to see some 45 minute ending or unlock a whole bunch of stuff?  All you played them was to beat the highest score.  Well, Bizzare Creations’ Geometry Wars is just that.  You play it for the challenge, and it’s addictive.  It began life as a hidden feature of Project Gotham racing, but evolved into something more.  This update adds in flashier graphics and music, while keeping the gameplay simple.  As a ship, you try to survive as long as you can against an onslaught of enemy polygons.  The left analog stick is used for moving, while the right is used for shooting, a’l’a smash TV.  You can even play your own soundtracks while playing it.  Check it out, it’s available on the marketplace for only $5.  (400 points to be exact.)

In the late years of the PS1, Bandai released a game that, while it captures the essence of what we love about classic gaming, it also updates it with a clever twist.  You play as Jutah, a man running from the demons of his past while by attempting to save the world from a rogue warship.  It’s a top-down shooter, but instead of blasting at enemies, you plant bombs on them and detonate them.  This game play turns what would have been an average shooter into something totally different from the norm.  The setting and detonation of bombs allows for a new layer of strategy.  Also, it’s pretty fun and sadistic to plant bombs on moving targets, even if they are just robots.  When you get tired of the vs mode, there is a 2-player vs mode you can play.  This game is pretty rare, so if you manage to find a copy, do yourself a big favor and pick it up.

After snagging the new in-store demo download of the America-only sequel to a well-loved Japan-only Nintendo DS rhythm game, SeanOrange and myself do a quick & dirty introduction and comparison of the franchise.